card market definitely got hit by the 1994 strike! Then they tried to make comebacks with these super duper fancy cards which cost a fortune for the packs relative to what they were before the 94 strike. ITs funny how baseball drives all card markets.
The card market was the STRONGEST in the early 90's, the ultimate demise is INSERTS and the high priced high end cards. I go into 7-11 and buy a pack of cards and they were $4 for a pack of about 8-10 cards.
In addition, the card sets don't always list have all the major league players now a days. They rather have minor league prospects than a utility player.
Overall, the sets and cards are out of control..and its hard to keep track of all the sets when alot of the cards look similar.
Remember back in the day everybody knew whether a card was a topps, donruss, and fleer? Upper Deck, Sportflicks among others the market could handle, but having 5 different brands from the same company ruined everything.
The card market was the STRONGEST in the early 90's, the ultimate demise is INSERTS and the high priced high end cards. I go into 7-11 and buy a pack of cards and they were $4 for a pack of about 8-10 cards.
In addition, the card sets don't always list have all the major league players now a days. They rather have minor league prospects than a utility player.
Overall, the sets and cards are out of control..and its hard to keep track of all the sets when alot of the cards look similar.
Remember back in the day everybody knew whether a card was a topps, donruss, and fleer? Upper Deck, Sportflicks among others the market could handle, but having 5 different brands from the same company ruined everything.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jateeluv:
card market definitely got hit by the 1994 strike! Then they tried to make comebacks with these super duper fancy cards which cost a fortune for the packs relative to what they were before the 94 strike. ITs funny how baseball drives all card markets.
The card market was the STRONGEST in the early 90's, the ultimate demise is INSERTS and the high priced high end cards. I go into 7-11 and buy a pack of cards and they were $4 for a pack of about 8-10 cards.
In addition, the card sets don't always list have all the major league players now a days. They rather have minor league prospects than a utility player.
Overall, the sets and cards are out of control..and its hard to keep track of all the sets when alot of the cards look similar.
Remember back in the day everybody knew whether a card was a topps, donruss, and fleer? Upper Deck, Sportflicks among others the market could handle, but having 5 different brands from the same company ruined everything.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
the way the box prices are nowadays i dont see how people can it the factory prices are outragous
card market definitely got hit by the 1994 strike! Then they tried to make comebacks with these super duper fancy cards which cost a fortune for the packs relative to what they were before the 94 strike. ITs funny how baseball drives all card markets.
The card market was the STRONGEST in the early 90's, the ultimate demise is INSERTS and the high priced high end cards. I go into 7-11 and buy a pack of cards and they were $4 for a pack of about 8-10 cards.
In addition, the card sets don't always list have all the major league players now a days. They rather have minor league prospects than a utility player.
Overall, the sets and cards are out of control..and its hard to keep track of all the sets when alot of the cards look similar.
Remember back in the day everybody knew whether a card was a topps, donruss, and fleer? Upper Deck, Sportflicks among others the market could handle, but having 5 different brands from the same company ruined everything.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
the way the box prices are nowadays i dont see how people can it the factory prices are outragous
Lakerfan - <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Anyone think baseball cards are more of a gateway to gambling than grass is to harder drugs?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Good point..I loved to collect baseball cards when I was little hoping I could cash in with the right cards...Now I love to Gamble hoping I can cash in with the right picks! Now all we need is one of those public service commercials warning against todays youth and collecting baseball cards...LOL....I can see it now at the local 7-11, "Must be 18 or older to purchase Baseball cards!!" LMAO!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Good point..I loved to collect baseball cards when I was little hoping I could cash in with the right cards...Now I love to Gamble hoping I can cash in with the right picks! Now all we need is one of those public service commercials warning against todays youth and collecting baseball cards...LOL....I can see it now at the local 7-11, "Must be 18 or older to purchase Baseball cards!!" LMAO!
Etopps= stock market thats about it in a nutshell now what gambler wouldnt love that
by the way i remeber there was a lawsuit in NY a few years back trying to sue the topps company
over something but i cant remember what it was over though does anybody remember and if so please post what it was about because i can't remember for the life of me (i think it was over the insert odds but can't remember)
by the way i remeber there was a lawsuit in NY a few years back trying to sue the topps company
over something but i cant remember what it was over though does anybody remember and if so please post what it was about because i can't remember for the life of me (i think it was over the insert odds but can't remember)
I agree with what was said above.
The early nineties was the shiznit for baseball cards...
To bad I was a kid then, and did not understand that I should have been selling instead of buying...
Oh well, still have the same cards. Its just amazing they were probably worth three times as much 15 years ago!!!
The early nineties was the shiznit for baseball cards...
To bad I was a kid then, and did not understand that I should have been selling instead of buying...
Oh well, still have the same cards. Its just amazing they were probably worth three times as much 15 years ago!!!
realize this is an old thread.. but best advice I can give as I have been interested in the hobby for years is:
buy vintage.. pre war if possible pr.. 50/60's 2nd best..
value never drops.. stays same or goes up on hall of famers. stick with mantle/mays/gherig/williams/dimaggio/ruth/aaron/etc type players and their 4-5 early years of playing and u cannot go wrong.. cards will never be produced again so the rarity will stay the same.. collectors use them as savings bonds/gold bars/etc equivalents so the market will always be there... and they cant be accused of steroids or other garbage because their legacy is long over and most are dead yet baseball and their story-lines live on. That is why the cards continue to impress new buyers and new collectors because they hear about ruth/mantle/etc
-murph
buy vintage.. pre war if possible pr.. 50/60's 2nd best..
value never drops.. stays same or goes up on hall of famers. stick with mantle/mays/gherig/williams/dimaggio/ruth/aaron/etc type players and their 4-5 early years of playing and u cannot go wrong.. cards will never be produced again so the rarity will stay the same.. collectors use them as savings bonds/gold bars/etc equivalents so the market will always be there... and they cant be accused of steroids or other garbage because their legacy is long over and most are dead yet baseball and their story-lines live on. That is why the cards continue to impress new buyers and new collectors because they hear about ruth/mantle/etc
-murph
I used to be a big baseball card collector.. while I don't have anything super valuable I do have a few nice Maris PSA 8s and Killebrew PSA 8's along with some other pre-70 named cards at lesser ratings. IMO, two things killed the baseball card collection "hobby".
1) Internet: Before ebay and such, the only place to find that 89 Griffey UD card you wanted was down at the local card store or maybe the card show in town once in a while. Most people didnt actually realize how many cards were out there - which is what someone said earlier, post 80's cards were mass produced. Once the internet hit, people had connections all over the world and realized there were tons of these cards being sold and the price dropped drastically.
2) Card grading such as PSA and BGS. Before the intorduction of card grading companies, your mint could have been my near mint and was up for debate. Now PSA and BGS basically own the definition of Mint/NearMint/Ececllent/Ect. To get a card graded requires a membership fee and a price per card fee. Most people, espicially kids, don't have the money to send to a company to grade their cards, and buying high graded cards demand a high price. The other thing, and I may be wrong about this, but I believe the card grading companies have a connection with their best clients to inflate high graded cards and keep the number of high graded cards low. For example, PSA knows just how many of my 1960 Harmon Killebrew PSA 8's are out there. Its my opinion they only award the higher grades to their best clients. When you look at my Killebrew, the thing looks freaking perfect (and I am tough on cards) however, it came back as an 8. I can always pay more to get it re-graded but who knows if it will get a 9 next time. Yes, it would increase the value by 400 or 500 bucks, but I've heard stories of people sending their cards in multiple times before they finally got the 9 or 10 they were looking for and sometimes never getting the grade they thought should have been awarded, but granted in some cases it probably shouldnt have been awarded.
Sorry, long winded response, but I used to love collecting cards when I was a kid, sad to see it disappear.
1) Internet: Before ebay and such, the only place to find that 89 Griffey UD card you wanted was down at the local card store or maybe the card show in town once in a while. Most people didnt actually realize how many cards were out there - which is what someone said earlier, post 80's cards were mass produced. Once the internet hit, people had connections all over the world and realized there were tons of these cards being sold and the price dropped drastically.
2) Card grading such as PSA and BGS. Before the intorduction of card grading companies, your mint could have been my near mint and was up for debate. Now PSA and BGS basically own the definition of Mint/NearMint/Ececllent/Ect. To get a card graded requires a membership fee and a price per card fee. Most people, espicially kids, don't have the money to send to a company to grade their cards, and buying high graded cards demand a high price. The other thing, and I may be wrong about this, but I believe the card grading companies have a connection with their best clients to inflate high graded cards and keep the number of high graded cards low. For example, PSA knows just how many of my 1960 Harmon Killebrew PSA 8's are out there. Its my opinion they only award the higher grades to their best clients. When you look at my Killebrew, the thing looks freaking perfect (and I am tough on cards) however, it came back as an 8. I can always pay more to get it re-graded but who knows if it will get a 9 next time. Yes, it would increase the value by 400 or 500 bucks, but I've heard stories of people sending their cards in multiple times before they finally got the 9 or 10 they were looking for and sometimes never getting the grade they thought should have been awarded, but granted in some cases it probably shouldnt have been awarded.
Sorry, long winded response, but I used to love collecting cards when I was a kid, sad to see it disappear.
